


For Want of a Coat

by unfolded73



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Historical
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-24
Updated: 2010-04-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:07:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21787258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unfolded73/pseuds/unfolded73
Summary: Prompt: FromAn Almanac for Bostonians, the April 21, 1841 entry, which read, "All business suspended in 1841 as great funeral procession for President Harrison passed through the city."
Relationships: Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler
Kudos: 6





	For Want of a Coat

**Author's Note:**

> Originally published as part of a prompt game by earlgreytea68 on livejournal, April 24, 2010.
> 
> Notes today: Making one more push to archive all the stray fics that I never posted here because I saw my word count was approaching 800,000, and it was making me crazy that there are fics I've written that might be lost to the aether.

"I'm freezin'," Rose shivers, huddling in a jumper that's no match for the piercing wind it is up against. At least the crowd surrounding them on the National Mall provides a bit of a wind break.

"Here," comes a voice behind her, and a moment later the heavy, warm weight of the Doctor's coat settles on her shoulders. She pulls it close gratefully, but turns to peer at him in his thin, brown suit. "You're gonna be cold now, though."

"I'll be fine." He follows her gaze up to the top of the white obelisk behind them. "Remind me to take you to the cathedral later; it's so large, you could lay the entire Washington Monument down inside it with room to spare."

"Is it bigger on the inside?" she asks with a grin, nudging the Doctor with her shoulder.

"No, it's pretty big on the outside too." Rose turns her nudge into a lean, and the Doctor puts an arm around her shoulders. Perhaps it's only to share her warmth, but Rose is fairly certain that she won't be able to focus on Obama's inaugural address under these conditions. Between the Doctor's coat and his proximity, she feels a bit like she is drowning in him. Not that she's complaining.

"How long is the actual ceremony going to be?"

"Less than an hour. His speech won't be more than twenty minutes, as I recall. Nothing like William Henry Harrison's. Do you know the story of William Henry Harrison, Rose?"

Rose smiles, enjoying watching the Doctor get into lecture mode. "Tell me the story."

"1841, and William Henry Harrison decides to show how hale and hearty he is by riding through the streets of Washington to his inauguration without a hat or a coat. It was a cold, wet day, and he proceeded to deliver the longest inaugural address in history. A month later, he was dead of pneumonia."

"Oh, I remember that!" Rose says. "I think it was on _The Simpsons_."

"Very likely. Anyway, of course the fact that he got sick with a virus had nothing to do with the fact that he'd been out in the cold and damp, but humans of the day didn't understand germs, so--"

"It's kind of humiliating, yeah? Dying after only thirty days as President?"

"Dying doesn't leave much room for feelings of embarrassment." And she knows he knows whereof he speaks. They stand silently together as the dignitaries begin to process in for the ceremony. Their elated mood has mellowed, and Rose shivers closer, feeling the Doctor's arm tighten around her in response.

"Thanks for the coat," she murmurs. And suddenly she wishes that President Obama's inaugural address could go on for hours, if it means she'll get to spend them wrapped up in the Doctor like this.


End file.
